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ESPN host Stephen A. Smith has never shied away from controversy, but his new podcast episode veered sharply into the political arena. On Monday’s edition of The Stephen A. Smith Show, the outspoken commentator defended former President Donald Trump against accusations that he bears responsibility for the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Instead, Smith delivered a fiery monologue that pinned the blame on three of Trump’s Democratic predecessors — Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and Bill Clinton.

“We ain’t gonna act like he [Trump] caused this immediately,” Smith declared. “It’s Democrats in office. It was Biden in office when a full-fledged war against Ukraine took place, courtesy of Russia’s instigation, no matter what they try to say to Trump.”

Pointing to Obama-Era Crimea Invasion

Smith pointed to 2014 as a critical turning point, when Russian forces invaded and annexed Crimea during the Obama administration. He described the takeover as a precursor to the ongoing war in Ukraine, noting that the West’s response at the time was too soft to prevent future aggression.

In his breakdown, Smith recapped how Russia swiftly seized the Crimean Peninsula after Ukraine’s pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovych was ousted during the Revolution of Dignity.

Although the Obama administration sanctioned Russia, expelled it from the G-8, and provided non-lethal aid to Ukraine, Smith argued these measures fell short. “They didn’t do enough,” Smith suggested, echoing sentiments that even Biden — then Obama’s vice president — reportedly shared at the time.

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Clinton’s 1994 Security Assurances in the Spotlight

Smith didn’t stop there. He also reached back to the 1990s, criticizing the Clinton administration’s role in disarming Ukraine. In 1994, under the Budapest Memorandum, Ukraine surrendered its nuclear arsenal — once the world’s third largest — in exchange for security assurances from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia.

“It was Clinton in office when you made a offer that disarmed Ukraine, and therefore weakened them, leaving them dependent on the United States,” Smith argued. “And immediately, here they are having to beg for support that they’re owed because of what we promised them as a nation.”

The ESPN host then underscored the weight of those commitments, adding, “We promised them this! You owe it to the Ukraine, Ukrainians, you absolutely do. I’m not saying I like it. I’m not saying I like spending billions of our taxpayer dollars to them. That’s not what I’m saying. What I’m saying is, promises made are supposed to be promises kept!”

Biden and the Escalation of Full-Scale War

Smith also put the current state of the conflict squarely on President Biden’s series. The war, which escalated into a full-scale invasion by Russia in February 2022, has continued to dominate global politics.

According to Smith, attempts to paint Trump as the instigator of the crisis ignore the fact that key escalations unfolded during Democratic administrations.

Drawing a Line Between Aggressor and Victim

Despite his criticism of U.S. foreign policy decisions across multiple presidencies, Smith closed his podcast by rejecting any notion of moral equivalency between Russia and Ukraine.

He emphasized that Ukraine’s sovereignty is under attack, and that Ukrainians should not be miscast as “villains” in the conflict.

His foray into political analysis represents another example of Smith using his platform to speak out on matters beyond sports, and as usual, his blunt delivery has sparked debate.

Whether audiences agree with his breakdown or not, one thing remains certain: Stephen A. Smith has once again found a way to keep himself — and his podcast — at the center of the conversation.

The post Stephen A. Smith Shifts Blame for Russia-Ukraine Conflict From Trump to Past Democratic Presidents appeared first on TMSPN.

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